1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for resource management. Specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing consumables in printers, copiers, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Consumables management is critical in the operation of printers, copiers and other devices that expend resources such as ink, toner, and/or media. The need for consumables management is being addressed by the present assignee by way of a number of technological innovations of which several issued U.S. patents are representative. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,265 issued Oct. 3, 2000 to Childers et al. and entitled Ink Jet Printer Service Station Controlled By Data From Consumable Parts With Incorporated Memory Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,208 issued Sep. 5, 2000 to Benjamin at al. and entitled Replaceable Cartridge For A Printer Including Resident Memory With Stored Mmage Triggering Data; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,156 issued Sep. 22, 1998 to Bullock et al. and entitled Apparatus Controlled Dy Data From Consumable Parts With Incorporated Memory Devices, the teachings of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
These references are representative of the current art inasmuch the references show that consumables management is currently available on newer printers designed to incorporate E-LABELtm technology. E-LABELtm technology involves the incorporation of sensors and memory into print engines, print heads and/or print cartridges and readout electronics, as original equipment, into the printer, copier or other host system. E-LABELtm is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.
While this provides an effective consumables management solution for newer devices originally equipped with the technology, a need remains in the art for a comparably effective solution for installed base of older devices not originally equipped with E-LABEL technology.